KEXP is one of the proud (ahem) sponsors of the 2008 Seattle Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. And this Wednesday evening, October 22, at the Harvard Exit Theater, I will be introducing the documentary Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell.
Arthur Russell is one of my heroes. I could write a book about him — except, as I have mentioned here before, my colleague Tim Lawrence beat me to it. I have seen this film several times already, and it is gorgeous. It will also make you cry. Bring tissues. (Or snag some napkins at the concessions booth.) And then, on Tuesday, Oct. 27, go to your favorite independent music retailer and pick up the new archival collection Love Is Overtaking Me, which compiles 22 previously unreleased Arthur Russell songs, many of which appear in the film.
What’s that? You don’t live in Seattle? Don’t fret: Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell is being released on DVD on November 18. And the home edition adds 65 minutes of new materials (which almost doubles the running time), including:
- Rare archival footage of two full-length live performances, “Soon To Be Innocent Fun/ Let’s See” (1985) and “Calling All Kids” (1989)
- Allen Ginsberg: A Memorial for Arthur Russell (1992)
- 1970 recording of an audiocassette letter sent from Arthur in San Francisco to his parents
- Tribute performances of Arthur Russell songs by Jens Lekman, Verity Susman (Electrelane), Joel Gibb (Hidden Cameras), and Arthur’s Landing (Ernie Brooks of Modern Lovers, Joyce Bowden, and Steven Hall)
Of course, if you’re anything like me (i.e. a huge geek for this underappreciated genius) you’ll want to own the DVD version regardless. But it would be nice if you came out (ahem) and watched it with us on Wednesday night, too.
DJ El Toro is the host of the overnight show In Between Sleep & Reason, Wednesday mornings from 1 AM to 6 AM on KEXP 90.3 FM Seattle and kexp.org. His column, Weird At My School, appears every Monday on the KEXP Blog.
